Synopsis:Set during the reign of China's first female Emperor, Wu Zetian, the story unfolds around a series of inexplicable spontaneous combustions that have killed dignitaries. Feeling threatened by the mysterious deaths, Wu sends for Detective Dee, whom she had ordered to be arrested and imprisoned eight years before, after he criticized her grab for power. Dee is an unlikely candidate to be at the court of the Empress, but he is also the only one capable of solving the mysteries.